I would have to see osme sources cited before trusting the report. It comes from banmichiganfracking.org, an organization which has a clear bias on the reports it would put out. I suspect the difference between the initial 5,000,000 gallon report and the 21,000,000 gallon report may have less to do with dishonesty than one counting only the freshwater which stays down and the other counting water which leaves the well (water used for drilling before fracking) and additives (mostly sand).

This gives some idea of how many different ways the numbers could be misinterpreted (a video from a gas company in Quebec): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CM8Lh7SAm6A

Wednesday February 6, 2013, 4:41 am
Stephen Brian, please re-read the article. The sources are right in there as links. Click on the links to the actual reports. There is no misrepresentation. The 21 gallon figure for ONE WELL and the 42 million gallon figures for all 3 wells on the same pad, (Excelsior 1-25, Excelsior 2-25 and Excelsior 3-25) come right from FracFocus! And FracFocus is just the industry self-reporting the numbers. Those figures are for the amount of water used going into the frack well. (This does not equal total fluids going in, because it doesn't take into account the chemicals or sand/proppants added to the 21 million gallons of water. So frack fluid numbers are even higher still).
The 5 million gallon claims are not "reports." These are the claims that industry and regulators (the Michigan DEQ, Frac Focus, and Energy in Depth, have been saying--for years now--of "what it takes to frack one well." Again, the links are right there, for you to see for yourself, that take you to those websites.

And now we know their rhetoric and the actual amounts of water being used... are two different things.

Wednesday February 6, 2013, 6:17 am
They have a right to frack, they bought the right with "Citizens United" I have a right to finish my solar heater using two liter pop bottles as a heat sink.Will provide 2/3 my home heating.So I will Cut my home heating bill and Not send them a check. The rest of my needs can be met with a pellet wood stove since there are now soooo many dead trees.
Then I will help others so the same.Stop sending them money and they will quit ruining Our shared water.

Wednesday February 6, 2013, 1:01 pm
here is another LINK for the people who are DOUBTING this one ..............

Michigan’s 21 Million Gallon Frack Job: A National Record?
http://ecowatch.org/2013/mi-frack-job-national-record/

A second nearby well is set to be fracked with more than 16 million gallons, according to a permit granted Encana late last year by Michigan regulators.

These big numbers are a big surprise. Most industry and government claims of water usage go by Marcellus shale figures, but here in Michigan, the frackers are using more water than perhaps anywhere else in the nation.
•According to Michigan regulators (Department of Environmental Quality) “up to 5,000,000 gallons or more.”
•According to industry’s public relations front group, Energy In Depth “as much as 5 million gallons.”
•According to the industry group website, FracFocus, by Ground Water Protection Council and Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission states it takes (referring to the Marcellus shale in the eastern U.S.) “5 million gallons of water per well.”

The truth is now coming out

FracFocus says the first well, State Excelsior 3-25 HD1, was fracked on Oct. 30, and Encana used 21,112,194 gallons of water. Combined with two other horizontal wells on the same pad, FracFocus says more than 42 million gallons went permanently downhole. The Excelsior pad (named after the township) is on Sunset Trail between Kalkaska and Grayling in the Mackinaw State Forest in Kalkaska County.

Some of the 42 million gallons of fresh water being poured into the drilling pit at the State Excelsior frack well can be seen in this video by Respect My Planet:

I WANT OBAMA TO ENACT AN IMMEDIATE MORATORIUM ON FRACKING THAT:
• Prohibits further permitting for HVHF for natural gas and oil production until independent peer-reviewed scientific studies determine the full impacts of HVHF on the environment, climate, economy, agriculture and public health.
• Protects the air, water, environment, local economies and communities from harms and risks associated with HVHF until such risks and harms can be thoroughly evaluated and wholly mitigated or eliminated, or until it is determined that HVHF technology cannot be performed without unacceptable risk and is banned.
• Provides adequate time for local, state and federal governments to assemble the resources necessary to study, formulate, implement, strengthen and enforce the laws, regulations or bans necessary to safeguard the health, safety, livelihoods and quality of life for all communities in the shale gas and oil regions.
• Acknowledges that the extraction, production and use of natural gas, like all fossil fuels, contributes to global warming and climate change, and commits the federal government to fully supporting the accelerated development of renewable energy.

Wednesday February 6, 2013, 5:51 pm
In Michigan we have a ballot initiative starting up this spring to BAN fracking statewide by putting it up for a statewide vote in 2014. You must be a registered Michigan voter to sign, and it must be signed IN PERSON, not online. See the website: www.letsbanfracking.org for more information about when the campaign signature gathering will start. The organization Ban Michigan Fracking started it up, forming a ballot question committee called Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan. If you are in Michigan, please join us by volunteering to be a circulator to gather signatures this spring and summer. Thanks!
LuAnne Kozma
Campaign Director
Committee to Ban Fracking in MIchigan

Wednesday February 6, 2013, 9:54 pm
I followed the FrackFocus reference and I think I found the source of the discrepancy:

According to FrackFocus, the well mentioned uses 21,112,194 gallons in Total Water Volume. A footnote at the bottom of the page says "Total Water Volume sources may include fresh water, produced water, and/or recycled water". Most likely there are 5,000,000 gallons of freshwater and about 16,000,000 gallons of produced or recycled (and recovered) water used there. Data for other wells still say much lower volumes (~5-6 million and ~12 million gallons in the other two similar wells).

Wednesday February 6, 2013, 10:26 pm
Thanks cal for the link to the article. Those are horrendous numbers! However this does provide more ammo for for all of us who oppose fracking. Read, noted and shared.